Stormy Weather

Hurricanes, Monsoons, and Tropical Storms

What incident do many literary scholars believe inspired William Shakespeare to write The Tempest?

The Tempest is considered to be the last play completed by the famous British playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616). It is a mystical, romantic play about shipwrecked sailors who find themselves on an island inhabited by good and evil creatures. Many scholars believe it was inspired by the story of the Sea Venture, a ship that sank near the Bahamas in 1609 because of a hurricane. The captain’s decision to crash the ship on a reef resulted in his saving 150 of his crew.